To feed or not to feed? Coral reef fish responses to artificial feeding and stakeholder perceptions in theAitutaki lagoon, Cook islands

Abstract

Feeding wild animals is a regular habit in ecotourism worldwide with poorly known consequences fir ecosystem functioning. This study investigates how effective bread feeding is at attracting coral reef fish in the South Pacific, which feeding groups of fish are most attracted, and how natural foraging rates of an omnivorous and a grazing detritivorous fish are affected.